Insiders: criticism of Brown for letter mistakes is justified |

Monday 9th November 2009 | 14:54

Insiders: criticism of Brown for letter mistakes is justified

A majority of political insiders feel that it is justified to criticise Gordon Brown for the mistakes in his letter to the mother of a dead soldier, regardless of the sincerity of the sentiment behind it

Gordon Brown has faced criticism in this morning’s Sun from the mother of Jamie Janes, a guardsman killed in Afghanistan. She was angry about a hand-written letter of condolence received from Gordon Brown which apparently misspelled his surname as well as several other words.

Brown’s defenders have pointed out that the Prime Minister took the time to write by hand, and that his bad eyesight accounts for the poor presentation. The story has featured prominently on rolling news bulletins, but a debate has taken place on whether The Sun crossed a line in attacking Brown in this fashion.

A majority of insiders feel that overall, the criticism of Brown is justified, according to new PoliticsHome insider research.

The Phi100 panel of political experts and insiders - which includes MPs and peers from all the main parties as well as media commentators and executives, strategists and think tank directors – were asked their view on how fair this criticism is.

Overall, fifty six per cent of the panel felt that the criticism was fair. Right-leaning, non-aligned and Liberal Democrat panellists all tended to hold this view. The defence of the story is especially strong among non-aligned panellists. A majority on the left, however, felt that the criticism of Brown was unfair.

Inexcusable

A non-aligned media panellist said: ‘his eyesight is a real handicap, yet he tries to write these letters himself, which is laudable. The mistakes are unfortunate. Clearly, they need to be checked properly by someone before they go out.’

Another media panellist said: ‘It is cack handed - but not a fair reflection of GB's sincerity.’

A right-leaning thought leader said ‘This isn't an internal memo. Do it properly or not at all.’

A non-aligned panellist agreed, saying: ‘he has dreadful handwriting, which isn't his fault, but the spelling mistakes are inexcusable in a condolence letter.’

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